Ghost Stories and Guinea Pigs

There's a review of Siglo: Passion over at inq7.net, by Ruel de Vera. Here's an excerpt:

Twelve stories array themselves in parade as Passion's primary arsenal, each tackling a different decade and location. As always, the stories intend to show off the unique attributes of the writers and artists. Passion bookends the stories with Suarez's illustrated poems and a sensational cover by Illenberger, all in all a gorgeous package.

Solid work abounds from all around. There is a dark, dark undercurrent in Passion as the storytelling here is quite mature and very sophisticated. Manalo's tale, combined with Drilon's graphic gambits, generates a creepy vibe that is taken even further by Vergara's spooky, meaningful anti-romance. Alanguilan's ghost story is harrowing in its stillness.

Ibardolaza's deceptively bucolic pattern unhinges, because of how it hides and then unleashes the truth in Groyon's story. Go-Alfar's story uses the artists' strengths to craft a lushly rendered journey to unexpected and bittersweet redemption. On the other tangent, Simbulan and Atienza's cozy piece makes wise use of a recipe passed down through the generations.

The book's most hypnotic, most arresting piece is "Manila 2019." In Katigbak's reality-bending exploration through what amounts as romance and obsession at an age where the soul hides behind the oh-so-aptly chosen avatar.

How can you not get into a story that has an oversized guinea pig named Briggs walking around in a dystopian Philippines? It's a well-written parallel to what's happening among the whiz kids of today and what may happen still.

Naturally, I was grinning from ear to ear after I read that. And no, I do not have a voodoo doll made of wax and bits of hair from Ruel de Vera, nor have I ever given him a substantial amount of money. (For that matter, I've never had a substantial amount of money to give.)

By the way, for anyone who has read, or may read, my contribution to Passion -- slight error: the name on the first door is supposed to be "Vincent," same as on the last. Speaking of names, I think I took almost all the character-names from people in the local music scene (Rann, Diego, Briggs, etc.) -- I hope they don't mind.

My favorite stories in Passion, btw, are "Malacanang 1968" by Quark Henares, Antonio Abad and Ma-an Asuncion (creepy and original), "Makati 1988" by Jamie Bautista and Shelly Soneja (witty and engaging), and "Baguio 1992" by Cyan Abad, Elbert Or and Jamie Bautista (heartfelt and heart-wrenching).

Feel the BURN

I like this photo, because it makes me look like I'm slightly taller than Marcus. I'm not.

It's been a little over a week since BURN magazine hit the stands, and we've been getting very encouraging feedback via texts and some of the mailing lists. :) We're hard at work on the second issue now, and we'd really like to hear more from you guys -- reactions, questions, suggestions, offers of money, obscene limericks, etc. How else are we going to put up a Letters page for the second ish? ;p

We haven't set up an official BURN email addy yet, but in the meantime, you can post something on this blog, or send me something at thekingofnothingtodo at yahoo dot com :)

BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad

So last week I watched all 26 episodes of BECK: Mongolian Chop Squad, a Japanese animated series with no giant robots, no planet-shattering punches, and no tentacle sex -- just a simple, often funny, often touching story about rock n' roll dreams.

The main character is an easygoing 14 year-old wastrel, Yukio "Koyuki" Tanaka; when he rescues a weird-looking patchwork dog named Beck from being harassed by some idiot kids, he meets the dog's owner, a genius guitarist named Ryuusuke -- and soon enough, his taste in music expands beyond J-Pop pap and he starts learning to play the guitar as well. This soon leads to the formation of the five-man band named Beck (named after the dog, and apparently not the quirky American musical artist) -- the series is about the band's ups and downs, which weave in and out of Koyuki's personal troubles and joys. There's lots of teen angst of course, and moments of high drama and romance, and naturally, lots of music -- often pretty good, although the stilted English lyrics may mar your enjoyment.

My favorite character in BECK is Saku, Koyuki's stalwart friend, who sort of looks like Jimmy from Beerkada (inasmuch as they both never seem to have eyes). Yvette pointed out that he's the most unpredictable character -- low-key but confrontational, talented but not showy. (Her favorite is Taira, the hot bassist with a penchant for taking his shirt off.)

It's hard to say what makes this series so compelling -- the plotting is solid but not exceptional (a bit slow in parts, a bit rushed in parts), and the characters are appealing but not always fleshed out. I guess it's a lot of things, a lot of little touches. Some stories just have it, I suppose: that indefinable hook, that momentum that carries you along. Part of me even thinks I'm too old to have enjoyed BECK so much, but then again, rock n' roll dreams are forever.

Interviewing VJ Paula

There are days when I hate my job. The day I interviewed Channel [V] VJ Paula Malai Ali, as you can probably tell from the picture to the right, was not one of them. Believe me when I say, though, that I didn't enjoy the interview because she was easy on the eyes -- although that was a definite plus, I admit -- I enjoyed it because she was smart. And funny. And gave the impression that she wasn't too concerned about saying the pat, proper thing. The interview was conducted about a year ago, and ran in FUDGE magazine. Here's the first draft of the article, in full:

Paula’s POV | VJ Paula talks about Sting, Shakespeare, and her sins | by Luis Katigbak

"I am a big fan of William Shakespeare." These are words that one does not realistically expect to be spoken with any sincerity or conviction by a TV personality in this day and age, more's the pity. But Channel [V] VJ Paula Malai Ali is no ordinary television personality.

"I think that every time you read one of his plays, one of his works, you find something different," she says, continuing to extoll the virtues of the Bard. "You understand it a bit more -- or you understand it a bit less. He was quite a clever lad." This demonstration of quick wit, flavored with a dash of sly irreverence, would perhaps not be unworthy of The Merchant of Venice's Portia -- incidentally, theatre veteran Paula's favorite Shakespearean role. It was while she was playing the lead in a production of the Willy Russell play Educating Rita, however, that an editor discovered her and decided to put her on the cover of his men's magazine.

After that, she admits, "the offers just rolled in" -- and now she is that rarity: a celebrity with substance, with an impressive list of television, radio, stage and even internet credits to her name, not to mention a number of modeling gigs. Certainly her good looks -- a happy result of her mixed Bruneian and English heritage -- would have garnered her attention in any case, but she's far more than just another pretty-smiled media darling. Her sharp intelligence, self-deprecating wit and amazing work ethic mark her as extraordinary: on the day of our shoot, despite being hampered by illness (brought on by a bad plate of pasta, one crew member theorized), she gamely struck poses and emoted for our photographer, and answered all questions with her sense of humor intact.

Paula grew up in Brunei, and moved to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ten years ago; she's been a VJ for Channel [V] for about three years now. She's on no less than seven shows: The Ticket, The 10, The US Billboard Countdown, The Rock Show, Video[Scope], Remote Control and The Inter[V]iew. "I have the best job in the world," she says, in her quite frankly mesmerizing accent. "I think if you talk to a lot of VJs, they'll agree. I'm in a very privileged position; I do travel so very much. I mean, I've been traveling nearly every two weeks." Just before her stint in Manila, she had been on jaunts to Los Angeles and Singapore. "I think that could well be why I'm kind of sick today. Exhaustion."

Still, the perks of the job are undeniable: I ask her about the artists she's interviewed. "Alicia Keys was very gorgeous and very warm. Sting -- I enjoyed Sting, 'cause I'm a fan. It's nice when you're a fan of these people, and you meet them. Norah Jones gave me a nice interview." She thinks for a moment, and concludes, "A lot of the girls gave me very nice interviews... Duran Duran gave me a hard time. They were difficult." Difficult in what way? "Simon Le Bon was defensive. I don't know what he was defensive about. But, you know, there's something to be said for interviewing Duran Duran." She was, apparently, a fan of theirs, growing up.

Which leads us to the question of what she's listening to these days: "I find I'm getting really regressive with my music tastes, I think because my job calls for 'the latest, the hippest, the trendiest' music. So I've really gone back to my 80s roots -- 'cause I'm a child of the 70s -- and my 80s music has become something I really enjoy. My Wham, my Lionel Richie -- I'm quite unsophisticated like that." This amusing revelation leaves an opening for me to ask her about something one normally does not discuss with a lady. "You mentioned that you were born in the 70s," I begin. "I realize it's not polite to --"

"I'm 31," she says bluntly, saving us both some trouble. Most people think of VJs as bubbly young things in their teens and early twenties -- so I ask her what it's like, being a VJ at her age. "I'm sure I probably would have gotten this job in my early twenties as well, if the audition had come then," she muses, "but I would've not been as comfortable and confident as I am today. I just think, in terms of my personal approach, I'm glad I got this job when I was in my late twenties, because I feel a lot more dignified in it, I feel confident in it." It shows: the handful of extra years gives her a kind of casual authority that callow hosts lack. Aim a silent prayer to the gods of TV for their wisdom in bestowing VJhood on this particular thirtysomething.

"I don't ever want to be one of these VJs that is just wearing a really gorgeous top and is just talking complete rubbish," Paula continues. "'Cause you can get away with talking complete crap, you really can. But I never want to be that person that is just like 'blah blah blah, white noise white noise.' That's not my job." I ask her for more specifics on how she goes about her job. "I try to really make it my own, you know? Because I have a personality, and I want it to come through... I ad lib a lot, much to the chagrin of my crew -- they're like, aw, we have to edit that now, dammit!"

It's interesting to note that such an independent, feisty spirit is also the wife of a prince: Tengku Kudin, nephew to the Sultan Kedah, to be exact. I ask her what it's like, being married to royalty. "It's, um -- you know, I'm fascinated by it, because the particular family that my husband is from is one of the oldest royal families in the world. So it's interesting when I go back to the palace when we have to attend functions or whatever -- I see a lot of history. You know, I find it fascinating, and I love the fact that they have so much of a past... They're so proud of their heritage, and they love to tell me of their family tree. To me it's been a cultural lesson, more than anything else. I didn't suddenly change my lifestyle, and go around wearing a tiara. I drive myself to work, I'm renting a house, you know?"

As the theme of this issue of FUDGE is "Sins", our talk naturally turns towards that always-fascinating topic. "My sins are quite tame," Paula asserts. "I like salt, that's my sin. I'm a sodium-sinful girl. Anything with salt on it. I like potato chips and..." At this point she trails off, perhaps contemplating the dizzying array of salted snacks this plane of existence has to offer. She names another sin, something many Filipinos can identify with: "My phone bill is too high. That's a sin, it's sinfully high every month. There's my roaming fees, and I call my twin sister up like every day -- it's crazy. We just spend too much money on the phone."

Aiming for a nice round number of three deadly sins, I encourage Paula to talk some more about her transgressions. "Another sinful thing I do is that I have a tendency to be a bit too frank. Has this gotten me into trouble?" she asks, anticipating my next question. "Yeah. I need to really work out the wiring in my head sometimes, because -- have you seen that episode of Friends where Phoebe says, 'Did I just say that out loud?' I do that. -- 'Did I just say that out loud?'"

"I think the latest example is when I was interviewing Robin Williams two weeks ago, in L.A.," Paula says. It was time for her to wrap up her interview with the Academy Award-winning comedian and actor, when she realized -- "Well, I've got nothing. You've given me nothing," she told him. "Because he was doing his voices and his characters and not addressing my questions," she explains. (Immediately afterwards, the thought flashed in her brain: "Damn, why did I say that?") And did he give you something after that?, I ask. "No -- I don't think he was really there. He was just doing his thing."

Robin Williams doing his thing may be an interviewer's nightmare, but the exact opposite is true for Channel [V] VJ Paula Malai Ali. Long may she continue to charm and enlighten viewers and reporters alike, by bringing a unique perspective and determination to her work, by remaining true to her personality, by doing her thing.

Burn, Baby, BURN

It's here! It's here! Or at least, I hear it's here. The first issue of new music magazine BURN is available at magazine stands and bookstores now, according to texts I received from Kristine and Denise. Am heading to a mall later to get a copy myself. :)

As you can see, for our debut issue, a decision was made to go with four different covers: Orange and Lemons, Pussycat Dolls, Pupil, and Christian Bautista + Nina. Aside from our four cover subjects, there are also features on Up dharma Down, Pedicab, Itchyworms, Kitchie Nadal, The Bitter Pill, Jason Mraz, Barbie Almalbis, and many more artists, as well as columns by Quark Henares and Lourd de Veyra, and of course, a CD compiled by Zach Lucero, which has interviews and songs by Nyko Maca, Morse and others. There's a lotta great stuff, if I may be so immodest. :) Get it now! Woo hoo!

Narda Now

Narda lead singer Katwo lookin' good as always, while the boys get their sulk on

There are a couple of gigs this Saturday, April 8, that look promising. The 18th installment of Revolver has a killer lineup: Isha, Itchyworms, Pedicab, Sino Sikat, and The Bitter Pill (yay!), plus a couple more acts. It's at SaGuijo though, and while I do like SaGuijo, it's kind of far from where I live, and transpo to and from is always a bother. On the other hand, there's a gig that same night at Big Sky Mind on E. Rodriguez, which will feature -- among "many others" -- Narda, a band that I haven't seen in far too long.

Narda was one of the first bands I wrote about when I joined the staff of PULP magazine; I had seen their EPs on sale at the Sarabia Optical in the UP Shopping Center before, but it was when I covered a gig at Ateneo that I first saw them perform live and was hooked. Here's the first draft of a short feature I wrote about them, back in 2003:

Narda's members claim a variety of influences. Katwo Librando, the lead singer, likes bossa nova. Ed Ibarra, guitarist, is a grunge fan. Wincy Ong, bassist, listens to the mods, the punks -- "everything European". JV Javier, guitarist, likes the blues and heavy metal. Happily, instead of forming an incomprehensible and unlistenable mess, these elements have come together in catchy, stick-in-your-head compositions. It is worthwhile to note that drummer Ryan Villena's favored act, the Beatles, is also the entire band's common denominator.

Ryan, one of the band's main songwriters and a veteran of various local indie acts, formed the band Narda during August of last year, with three objectives in mind. One, to have fun; two, to perform and hone original material; and three, to help the community. The first two objectives are common enough for any rock band. The third needs some explanation. "Our label, Ponkan Music, it's a non-profit organization," says Ryan. "We use rock n' roll music to promote good causes, and to give money to charitable institutions." The first beneficiary of their cause is Tulong Dunong. "It's this scholarship program for deserving public school students." JV sums everything up: "We record our music, we help people -- everybody's happy!"

Of course, as Wincy (who is the band's other main songwriter) points out, they make music that people would want to buy and listen to anyway -- it's not like the charity factor is the only, or even the main, draw. He stresses that these are really songs -- writer-based, lyrics-based songs, as opposed to glorified jamming sessions.

Anyone watching one of their gigs -- or listening to their recordings -- would agree. Songs like 'In the Afternoon' and 'Santong Paspasan' are full of the kind of straightforward pop-song goodness that is all too rare nowadays. The sound on their two most recent EPs is still a bit raw, befitting its DIY roots, and yet rich too, with some charming trumpet flourishes on Suwerte, and the sweet strains of a viola, not to mention the spiralling guitar sound of their mysterious guest, 'Gaddi Shankar', on Burador. At P50 and P30 each, respectively, you'd be hard pressed to get better musical value for your money. (The EPs can be found at their gigs, or at Sarabia Optical at the UP Diliman Shopping Center).

The band name, as you may have guessed, comes from the all-too-human secret identity of local komiks superheroine Darna. "Naaliw kasi ako sa character ni Narda, kasi siya yung hindi Darna, kung baga, siya yung tao," says Ryan. He points out the symbolism involved. "Lahat tayo, pilay, at gusto nating lumipad."

In just a little over half a year, Narda have played a great number of gigs, released three 4-song EPs (with another one due this May), gotten airplay on NU, and filmed two videos -- not bad at all for a bunch of mere humans.

Judging from the photo above -- a recent addition to Katwo's Friendster page -- only two faces I'm familiar with remain in Narda: Ryan, on the far right, and Katwo herself. (Ed left before the fourth EP, and guitarists JV and Nico Africa "amicably resigned" last July.) The last time I saw the band perform, at one of those Terno gigs, Wincy was still with them. Their sound had already changed by then; I wonder what they sound like now.

Cryogenics, He-Man, and "Eggy in a Basket"

Yay, reading material! And a recipe.

Click here for a scan of a complete single-issue story from Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan -- "Another Cold Morning." For those of you unacquainted with the comics, it's a series set in a half-nightmarish, half-utopian urban future starring Spider Jerusalem, a journalist who bears more than a passing resemblance to the late Hunter Thompson. This issue focuses on someone from our time, however, who is frozen and revived in Spider's present. I've always thought that the best parts of Transmet were the ones that told a complete story in one go rather than in a multi-issue arc, and this is a good example.

And here's one feminist's account of how she was inspired by a certain cartoon when she was growing up. The cartoon? He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. No, really.

Those of you who have watched the excellent V for Vendetta (and if you haven't, what are you waiting for? Hurry, it's still showing in some theaters) may remember a breakfast-cooking scene -- actually, two breakfast-cooking scenes -- involving something called "eggy in a basket." Here's a recipe for this simple dish, and here's an account of one blogger's attempt to make it. We could argue about the merits of the movie as opposed to the original graphic novel, Alan Moore's insistence on removing his name from the credits, the responsibility or lack thereof in glorifying alliteration, knifing people, and blowing up buildings, or even about the authenticity of "eggy in a basket" (zero, acording to Moore; it's not an English invention, apparently), but one can't argue with butter, eggs and bread. Mmm. Okay, unless you're a vegan.

The Definition of Skongkrang

skongkrang - n. sobrang chaka ng pagka-jologs. As in kung ang jologs na-jologan sa iyo, sorry na lang, chief, skongkrang ka.

. . .

Ano man ang unit cellphone mo at marami kang load, kung Gn2 k nMn mgTxT (e.g. Wer n Ü d2 na me KninA p aQ), tas puro walang kwentang cryptic messages at higit sa lahat alam mo ang pangalan ko at di ka nagpapakilala (at pahinga-hinga ka lang kapag tinawagan ka), ay potah, skongkrang ka.

Thank you, Jovan, for making me laugh today. :)

BURN: Music Matters

The BURN Staff! Standing, L to R: Marcus Nada, me, Denise Mallabo, Zach Lucero. Seated, L to R: Kat von Einsiedel, Dave Yogore, Kristine Fonacier

It's almost here! After a number of disputes, delays, bouts of soul-searching, and several sessions of full contact Krav Maga, BURN -- the best music magazine in the known universe -- is set to launch this April. It will have features galore, lovely layouts by Dave and Marcus, lotsa good writing, AND a free CD with songs and interviews, compiled and hosted by Zach.

I wrote four of the main features (and co-wrote another one, with Yvette) -- and am in charge of the Reviews section, supposedly. My Review Crew for the first issue consists of Thor Balanon, Dodo Dayao, Kristine, myself, Denise, JP Ong, Cait Poblador, Cris Ramos Jr. and Yvette Tan. :)

I was looking over the layouts a couple of weeks ago, and I can't wait to hold the actual magazine in my hands. There'll be four different covers for the first issue, featuring four different artists that run the gamut from indie-rock to glossy pop. Something for every music aficionado, we hope. More details soon! And more staff shots here and here. (Thanks to Denise for the pix!)

Matrimony by the Sea

Am still smiling over the fact that Avel, one of my oldest and best friends, got married yesterday to his lovely love, Ely! The reception was held on the beach at a resort in Nasugbu, and it was great. I've attended enough weddings by now to have developed an aversion to those all-too formal, standard (read: boring, unfun) hotel receptions that cost too much and pack too many strangers into some sterile, well-lit ballroom. Um, no offense to anyone who may be reading this who had a reception like that; there are enjoyable exceptions. :)

Anyway, because it was a relatively small gathering of close friends and family -- and because, hey, we were on a beach, and the weather was really nice -- the whole affair had a happy, laid-back, party-like atmosphere. Yvette and I had a blast.

As for the photo above -- I'll let JB, the Best Man, explain, by quoting something he posted on our online barkada logbook a few days ago. "Okay, so Avel's got this idea for his wedding to use lanterns instead of the usual doves. He saw them in a news clip. I remember seeing some in the movie version of The Beach. Ely's friends mention meron daw in that Heath Ledger film Casanova. Kidlat saw it done when he was in Vietnam." So that's what they're launching in the photo: a paper lantern, working on the principle of hot-air balloons. It looked wonderful when it finally sailed upwards into the night sky. We oohed and aahed and hoped it wouldn't descend on any flammable rooftops. (It didn't, whew.)

Avel asked me to compile some songs to serve as background music during dinner and after. "Basta bagay sa beach," was my understanding. So there was a lot of reggae stuff, of course, sprinkled with some soul and Brazilian stuff and even some hip-hop. Here's a partial list of the stuff I selected to play during dinner:

Ive Mendes > Voce
Sound > bossaManila
Simply Red > Sunrise
The New Mastersounds feat. Corinne Bailey Rae > Your Love is Mine
Big Mountain > Baby I Love Your Way
Jimmy Cliff > Shelter Of Your Love
Al Green > Let's Stay Together
Aztec Camera > All I Need is Everything
Beth Orton > Daybreaker (Roots Manuva remix)
Tropical Depression > Mahal Kita
Cassandra Wilson > Until
Sugar Minott > Good Thing Going

As much as possible, I wanted the lyrics to reflect the romance of the occasion. In general, though, I chose songs more for the way they sounded than the actual lyrical content, although I'm pretty sure I weeded out any songs with references to ho's, drugs or Satan worship. (Okay, maybe not drugs. We are talking about reggae, after all.) Here's some of the dancier, livelier stuff I selected for after dinner:

No Doubt > Hey Baby
Snoop Dogg feat Pharell Williams > Beautiful
Bob Marley > Is This Love
Third World > Now That We've Found Love
Erykah Badu > Love of my Life (Worldwide)
Common > The Light
Lauryn Hill + Bob Marley > Turn Your Lights Down Low
No Doubt > Underneath It All
Brownman Revival > Ngayong Gabi
Hemp Republic > Himig Ng Pag-ibig
Johnny Nash > Stir It Up
Jimmy Cliff > Wonderful World Beautiful People

Congratulations to Avel and Ely! We had a great time. It was a wonderful party, to mark the official beginning of a wonderful union. When I get married, I want it to be like that. Seriously.

Vote for Bagetsafonik

Picture by Bernie, stolen from their Yahoogroup

A text from Bernie Sim: Yey nakakakilig! "Saccharine," Bagetsafonik's 1st single, is on NU! Support le bagets! Vote:

1. txt: NUVOTE (space) SACCHARINE, send to 29107
2. call: 636.0093
3. fax: 634.6516

This is great news; as anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows, I'm a fan of Bagetsafonik, and I can't wait for the full-length release! (Hmm, "full-length release"... sounds sorta Brokeback).

Haven't heard "Saccharine" yet? Go to the Bagetsafonik yahoogroup and sign up, then check out the Files section to listen to the song. :)

Industrial-Strength Interlace

Those of you who are into dark, dramatic, skull-pounding music will be excited to know -- that is, if you don't already know -- that European industrial act Interlace are performing here this week. I've been told that they're the first foreign industrial act to come to our shores. Here's their schedule, more or less (9pm onwards each playdate, tickets at the entrance):

Friday, March 24
6underground, Carlos Palanca St., Makati (with Skies of Ember, etc)

Saturday, March 25
Vida de Malate, Nakpil St., Malate (with Rubber Inc, etc)

Monday, March 27
Absinthe, Greenbelt 3, Makati (with The Late Isabel, etc)

If you're wondering what they sound like, you can download some mp3 samples from their site. Also, here's a description of their second album:

Imago is the second conceptual phase of Interlace. During Innuendo, the first phase, a foetus was conceived and cloned. Now it is time for the foetus to leave its incubator and enter the world outside. The sharp cold, the naked tile walls, the harshness of unfamiliar sounds... and, somewhere beyond the blinding light, reality.

From that, I think you can pretty much guess whether this act is your cup of absinthe, or not.

The King of Nothing to Do #21 / Launching Latitude

Yep, the 21st installment of my biweekly column at the Manila Bulletin is out today, which means I've been writing it for 42 (42! The answer to the Ultimate Question!) weeks now, which means I am very close to hitting my first year anniversary. *does cartwheels of joy* The latest column is about the Latitude book launch, which I apparently can't shut up about just yet. (Actually, it's a compiled-and-expanded version of my three Latitude-related posts. Yay, the benefits of blogging!) Wait 'til my own book* comes out in May -- I'll probably be posting about it for the rest of the friggin' year.

*Details soon. It'll be my first collection of nonfiction, and my second book overall.

Great Scots! / Saving the Universe with Lux and Alby

Largely because of the recent Latitude launch, I found myself trying to list my favorite Scottish bands and writers yesterday -- the Top 5 of each. It was easy to come up with the bands: The Blue Nile, Teenage Fanclub, Primal Scream, Aztec Camera and the Cocteau Twins. Coming up with writers was a little more difficult. Kenneth Grahame has to be on that list, and A.A. Milne, and yes, Grant Morrison (though aside from a short story in an anthology and the posts on his website, I admit to having read precious little of his prose, and base his inclusion entirely on his brilliant comics). Arthur Conan Doyle too. I was stuck for a fifth.

Until I remembered Martin Millar. Not comics writer Mark Millar, who can be very good but who can also be very tiresome, but Martin Millar, author of Milk, Sulphate and Alby Starvation, which I was fortunate enough to find on one of my Book Sale jaunts, back in the 90s. According to The Daily Mail, "It throbs with street-cred, crazed comedy and flick-knife sharp jibes at 20th-century urban life."

Martin Millar is no stranger to comics either, as you can see. (You can read the first two issues of the series at the site.) I've forgotten where I bought the two or three copies of "Lux and Alby Sign On And Save The Universe" that I own; probably in one of those comics shops that are no longer around, like Platinum (I used to have a Platinum membership card! It had a picture of Spawn on it.) As the blurb says, Lux and Alby is "a fantastic (and upsetting) adventure, featuring beautiful Goddesses, unhappy plants, sad rocks, a lot of kissing, and a full scale assault on Nirvana."

Old Angst

"You are in the city, the city that will house your dreams and break your heart."

"Breakfast in NYC" by Oppenheimer

"Summer's in your heart, and I know that you're staying." Yay for head-bobby happy-sounding summery songs! The way the band Oppenheimer uses synths reminds me of The Rentals. Here's the description from Fingertips:

Subtract the synthesizers -- both the fuzzy, deep one and the dingly high one -- and the song is revealed at its core to be Beach-Boys pure (the very first word, even, is "Summer"), its Brian Wilson-y sing-song verse setting up a heart-bursting hook in the chorus. It's a hook that packs a grand wallop for almost no apparent reason: the melody takes what sound like joyful leaps both upward and downward that all turn out to be that most pedestrian of intervals, the third. A third is the basic building block of music; all chords are based on thirds. And yet here the interval sounds towering, revelatory -- probably due to both the singer's immaculate tone and the irresistible use of echo harmonies as the thirds alternate achingly between major and minor chords. Ahhhh -- just brilliant.

I love that line that goes "Saw you going crazy on the dancefloor." :) Download it here (scroll to THIS WEEK'S FINDS: March 12-18, right click and "Save Link As"). Two minutes twenty-three seconds of singalong synth-pop!

Meet Bollocks the Bear

So Yvette and I went to the launch of Latitude last night, and were given these cute little stuffed bears in Royal Guard uniforms -- free! -- at the entrance. (Now don't you wish you had gone?) There were Actual Scottish People there, as well as the head honchos of Anvil and the British Council, not to mention fellow contributors Dean Alfar, Butch Dalisay, Menchu Aquino Sarmiento, and of course co-editor Sarge Lacuesta. We sat at a table with Sarge, and Menchu, who wrote one of my favorite books of 2003 -- Daisy Nueve. There was Johnnie Walker aplenty, and a great performance by Cynthia Alexander, whose husband is apparently a Scotsman. There was also a quiz portion, where people mostly failed to list seven James Bond movies starring Sean Connery. There were readings by the authors, and then they served us a dish that was allegedly a combination of haggis and sisig. I say "allegedly" because I didn't taste it. Yvette said it was okay though.

All in all, a pretty fun night. Thanks to Sarge for recruiting me for the book, and thanks to the people who dropped by because of me: Avel, Emon, Hagee, JB, Kidlat, Perce, and of course Yvette.

As for our little bears, we decided to give them quintesentially British names, so we named them after the most quintessentially British words we know. So Yvette's bear is named Wanker, and my bear's name is Bollocks.

Latitudinous

They're launching Latitude later -- edited by Sarge Lacuesta and Toni Davidson, it's "the first literary collaboration between the UK and the Philippines, collecting short fiction from seven Scottish and seven Filipino writers." (The cover image above is from Dean's blog.) I'm one of the seven Filipino writers, though you wouldn't know it to look at this press release. Seriously, people, if you have seven writers and you list four of them, the other three are going to feel a little homicidal. Or suicidal. I haven't decided yet.

The story that I submitted for this collection is a rather old one, but it's one of the stories I'm proudest of: "Subterrania." If I thought of my story collections as mix tapes, this is the one I would put in the 1st or 2nd slot, something to grab the reader early on.

Anyway! I was actually there when the seeds of this anthology were sown. Sarge, Ruel de Vera, Bing Sitoy and I were asked to deliver lectures at a literary conference organized by the British Council a few years ago; that was where we met poet Menna Elfyn, and Toni Davidson, who made an impression immediately with his deadpan, twisted sense of humor. Although now that I think of it, there's a possibility that when he asked us where he might rent some smooth young Filipino boys, we just assumed he was joking.

Sarge and Toni kept in touch; Toni dropped by again last year, and I remember a whole bunch of us writers gathering at British Council Philippines Director Dr. Gill Westaway's house, and getting tipsy, reading from our works, and just generally making asses of ourselves. A photo of our group ran in one of those UK Link magazines, and you can clearly see the telltale signs of inebriation in our reddened faces, as well as the complete and baffling absence of pants.

Am dropping by later, though I'll probably have to leave fairly early. Here's to the Scots, here's to us Flips, and here's to stories various and startling.

Your Duty

"Letter to Alex and Chris, Twelve Years in the Future."

From their Mom. Read it 'til the end.

Sad Movies Always Make Me Cry

Watched Sad Movie recently. Kind of fun to realize that I can now instantly appreciate how 'star-studded' this film is, after having watched quite a number of Korean flicks since my very first one, Il Mare. The guy from My Sassy Girl is here. So is the girl from ...ing. (Ah, Im Soo-jeong! Sigh.) That woman from A Bittersweet Life is here too, and I now regret calling her "a low-rent Jeon Ji-hyeon," especially since I also saw her kick ass in Volcano High.

Anyway, here's an excerpt from the excellent Love HK Film review:

Talk about truth in advertisement. This mostly entertaining, star-packed film lives up to its title, although not necessarily in the way one might expect. Rather than deliver a straightforward melodrama, director Kwon Jong-Gwan instead delivers a genuinely funny romantic comedy, only to pull the rug out from under the audience in a brutally depressing final act. [...] Imagine a film in which likeable characters encounter life-altering problems, struggle to overcome them, and then seem to actually make some headway, only to have all their hopes eventually dashed in a swift and brutal fashion. If you can do that, you'll have some inkling of what Sad Movie is all about.

My favorite parts, aside from any of the scenes with Im Soo-jeong in them, were the funny bits: a bunch of amusement park employees in Seven Dwarfs costumes taking shelter from the rain, the sign-language banter between two sisters, the Seven Dwarfs beating up some hapless artist, and pretty much the whole Sassy Guy subplot, complete with absurd and amusing business venture. The movie-of-the-week mother and child stuff didn't grab me at all, and even the fireman story needed to be more compelling. Still, overall, it's fun to watch, at least until -- as Love HK Film puts it -- IT ALL GOES TO HELL!

Veni, Vidi, Vina

So the March 2006 issue of MANUAL magazine is out -- an almost-naked Isabel Roces, holding a chicken, is on the cover -- and it features my interview with singer/dancer/actress Vina Morales. Here's the first couple of paragraphs:

I think I was around 10 years old the first time I saw Vina Morales in person. Every year around Christmas time, a small and rather makeshift carnival would spring up near our village; while it had the usual attractions like a Ferris wheel and a shooting gallery, it was limited and ill-maintained, no bigger or cleaner than your average school fairground. For a preteen boy and his family, however, it was exciting enough, especially in those days, and our excitement was heightened a notch that year because of the celebrity supposedly in our midst. "It's Vina Morales," people around us whispered -- and there, standing less than twenty feet away from us was a young, petite, extremely cute girl wearing what my mind recalls as a red jacket of some shiny material, going around, oblivious to the attention she was drawing, looking at what the booths had to offer.

In the end, it may or may not have actually been Vina Morales, but what strikes me about the memory is that at the time, even though she was already undeniably a household name, it was completely plausible that she might pop up in some dinky neighborhood carnival near FTI in Parañaque, without fanfare or entourage. Despite her popularity as a singer and actress and the considerable talents that have marked her as anything but ordinary, she always had that accessible, 'you could bump into her on the street' quality, which is just one element of her seemingly universal appeal. Elderly aunts like her because she comes off as sweet and unassuming, younger cousins like her because she's, well, hot, and in all likelihood she's a hit among newborn babies as well, not that they can tell us.

More Vina pix, taken with my ancient Canon digicam, here and here. (Just to clarify, the stylist was going for a sort of Flashdance/"Hung Up" Madonna look here; Vina Morales doesn't dress like this in real life. Also, the actual photos for the magazine spreads were taken by a real photographer -- Pat Dy -- and are much nicer.)

A Boy and His Dog

A friendly reminder from Copper and Fred.

State of Emergency

"I've always said every time I hear calls for this country to finally come together that this country has never had any problems uniting. It has done so repeatedly and, as in the case of the two Edsa People Power uprisings, completely resplendently. Unfortunately, as the case of the two Edsa revolts also shows, Filipinos find it a lot easier to unite in fighting against a common threat than in fighting for a common good." -- from Conrado de Quiros' column today

Lots of interesting links on Adam's page about the current state of the nation. (Also on Adam's page: protest poetry, Dr. Strange, and pictures of girls in bikinis).

What We Blog About

Got a link to this "word cloud generator" from Dean. Basically, it creates a little snapshot of what you write about on your blog (or any site, for that matter); I assume the larger words are the ones used more often. Apparently, we post about Bamboo more than I thought -- and wait, no mention of Pogi Rock?! I like that little "yay" and "yeah" near the bottom, between "writing" and "years".

In other news, Yvette and I made the Neil Gaiman Writing Contest deadline. Whew. *collapses*

Anger Management; or, Francis Magalona Tears Jimmy Bondoc a New One

Wow. Thanks to Denise for telling me about this.

It's probably never a good idea to talk trash about a rapper. Words are their weapons, man.

Valentine, etc.

1. One Korean movie:

I watched ...ing last weekend. I enjoyed it a great deal, or at least the first three-fourths or so of it -- the last part dragged somewhat, and got a bit Hollywooden (lovely dream sequence, though -- you'll know what I mean if you ever watch it). As is the case with most romantic movies, some of the best parts were the meet-cute, getting-to-know-you sequences. From the review on Koreanfilm.org:

"The unusual title of this introspective and well-executed film refers to the present continuous tense in English. For the film's main character Min-ah -- a high school girl who has spent much of her youth in the hospital -- the present may hold a deeper meaning than for most of us.

"...One day, a young photographer (played by actor Kim Rae-won of Plum Blossom and My Little Bride) moves into the apartment below their home. He tries to win over Min-ah's friendship, first by stealing her lighter and later by calling her incessantly on her new phone. Min-ah is quite put off by all this, and has no intention of becoming friends with him, although her mother seems to be encouraging her...

"With her debut film, young director Lee Eon-hee has created a simple, moving story as well as one of Korean cinema's most vivid mother-daughter relationships ever. Im Su-jung -- virtually everyone's choice for the best new actress of 2003, after her award-winning performance in A Tale of Two Sisters -- plays Min-ah with a convincing mixture of reclusiveness and vulnerability...

"Directed with confidence and a clear-eyed perspective, ...ing is an overlooked film that manages to be both very sad and enjoyable to watch at the same time."

2. Two people reading letters to each other:



"I stopped celebrating Valentine’s Day a few years ago -- not, as some might surmise, because I’m a cheap bastard, but because it seems nicer to give thoughtful gifts and go on romantic nights out just any day, regardless of the calendar, because being in love is occasion enough. Still, I can’t help being affected by this Love Month jazz, because as a writer, many of my gigs are season-appropriate.

"Last January 30, Nokia launched its very pretty line of fashion phones, the L’amour Collection ...I was asked to write a small play of sorts about love, which would be performed by fashion icon Inno Sotto and two actors during the launch. We fleshed out the notion of a couple reading love letters to each other, much like the play Love Letters by A.R. Gurney. Inno Sotto had the idea that we should portray the eternal qualities of love -- that regardless of time period or location or gender, we all undergo the same agonies and joys, when it comes to being deeply, helplessly in love."

[from my column, The King of Nothing to Do, at the Manila Bulletin]

3. Three poems by Carol Ann Duffy:

Miles Away

I want you and you are not here. I pause
in this garden, breathing the colour thought is
before language into still air. Even your name
is a pale ghost and, though I exhale it again
and again, it will not stay with me. Tonight
I make you up, imagine you, your movements clearer
than the words I have you say you said before.
Wherever you are now, inside my head you fix me
with a look, standing here whilst cool late light
dissolves into the earth. I have got your mouth wrong,
but still it smiles. I hold you closer, miles away,
inventing love, until the calls of nightjars
interrupt and turn what was to come, was certain,
into memory. The stars are filming us for no one.

Words, Wide Night

Somewhere on the other side of this wide night
and the distance between us, I am thinking of you.
The room is turning slowly away from the moon.
This is pleasurable. Or shall I cross that out and say
it is sad? In one of the tenses I singing
an impossible song of desire that you cannot hear.
La lala la. See? I close my eyes and imagine
the dark hills I would have to cross
to reach you. For I am in love with you and this
is what it is like, or what it is like in words.

Valentine

Not a red rose or a satin heart.
I give you an onion.
It is a moon wrapped in brown paper.
It promises light
like the careful undressing of love.
Here.
It will blind you with tears
like a lover.
It will make your reflection
a wobbling photo of grief.
I am trying to be truthful.
Not a cute card or a kissogram.
I give you an onion.
Its fierce kiss will stay on your lips,
possessive and faithful
as we are,
for as long as we are.
Take it.
Its platinum loops shrink to a wedding-ring,
if you like.
Lethal.
Its scent will cling to your fingers,
cling to your knife.

4. Zero advice from Fran Lebowitz:

DAVID: This interview is actually going to be published in February, so in the spirit of Valentine's day do you have any advice for the lovelorn?
FRAN: There's no such thing as advice to the lovelorn. If they took advice, they wouldn't be lovelorn. You see, advice and lovelorn don't go together. Because advice makes love sound like some sort of cognitive activity, but we know that it isn't. We all know that it's some sort of horrible chemical reaction over which we have absolutely no control. And that's why advice doesn't work.

DAVID: Being in love is a chemical activity?
FRAN: In love, lovelorn, anything having to do with romantic love, has nothing to do with the ostensible ability to think.

[from Index magazine]

Zaturnnah: Ze Muzikal!

The cast and collaborators of Zsazsa Zaturnnah Ze Muzikal: That's Eula Valdes (who plays ZZZ) standing in the center; sitting in the center is Ricci Chan (Didi) and lying on his side in the center is Tuxqs Rutaquio (Ada). ZZZ is flanked by Agot Isidro (Queen Femina Suarestellar Baroux) and Kalila Aguilos (Femina understudy). Click on the pic to enlarge.

Yvette and I just watched the dress tech rehearsal of Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah: Ze Muzikal last night, and we had a blast. It's based of course on Carlo Vergara's excellent comic book, which was so good that I must admit I had misgivings about it being adapted for any other medium. Fans of the original story can breathe a sigh of relief -- for the most part, they did it right. You'll laugh! You'll scream! You may even cry. But immediately afterwards, you'll be laughing again.

As the press release says, it's "a fresh take on the usual superhero story" -- "but this time, the superhero(ine) is a simple provincial gay beautician named Ada who transforms into voluptuous Zsazsa Zaturnnah possessing uncanny strength after swallowing a huge stone. Yes, it's Darna in drag."

Tuxqs Rutaquio as Ada is great; just the right amounts of sarcasm, vulnerability and strength. Ricci Chan owns the part of Didi, Ada's flamboyant assistant and best friend; it's hard to imagine anyone else playing it so well -- s/he steals almost every scene s/he's in, and gets a lot of laughs through lines that are, or at least appear to be, ad-libbed. Eula Valdes as Zsazsa really works -- she does the bitchy one-liners and slapstick stuff and action scenes with little heed for her personal safety or dignity (which, believe me, is a good thing, in this case).

Arnold Reyes is fine as neighborhood hunk Dodong, though he seems to have lost a few IQ points in the transition from page to stage. We agreed that Agot Isidro as main kontrabida Queen Femina Suarestellar Baroux, while good, should have been a bit more over-the-top, should have had more fun with her role -- it would be interesting to see what understudy Kalila Aguilos does with it. The supporting cast really earns its keep, by the way -- as townspeople, zombies, and backup singers, they attack each and every one of their minor roles with energetic improvisation (as Yvette and I learned when one of them addressed us directly during a wonderfully chaotic street-vendor scene).

The official run begins today, February 10, and there are shows throughout February up until March 5. If you liked the comics, or if you just want to watch a fun (and funny) original musical, you'll enjoy Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Ze Muzikal! (Call the Tanghalang Pilipino office at 832-3661 or 832-1125 locals 1620/1621 or email ccptanghalan at yahoo.com for tickets, reservations and inquiries).

PS. Just found out -- according to Carlo's blog, "almost half of the shows have been fully booked even before the run has started". Hurry! :)

The Definition of Senseless Tragedy

Got an email from my friend Oli Reyes last Saturday, about the tragedy at the ULTRA:

Unbelievable. Wowowee just went on the air. Apparently, the several thousand people who did get into ULTRA are still there, waiting for the show to begin. I am typing this as the events transpire.

Willie Revillame standing on the ULTRA stage. As he entered, people started screaming "Wow wow Willie! Wow wow Willie!” Then he starts crying. At the sight of him weeping, people start screaming again, "Wow Wow Willie." One person screams "Willie ang gwapo mo!"

He then starts speaking, in tears, asking for apologies, saying that he only wanted to help people. He pleads with the crowd to understand what happened, and implicitly not to blame him or ABS for the tragedy... He couldn't believe it all happened. He asks people not to get mad if the show was not to go on. Most of his remarks are greeted by applause, except the one about please don't get mad if the show didn't go on. Willie Revillame then pleads for national unity.

Noli de Castro then comes up on stage, without much applause, except when he notes the fact that most of the people still have tickets which apparently will be redeemable or somehow still usable. Probably after minutes of looking, ABS is finally able to cut to a shot of sad faces in the crowd. The sad people look suspiciously rich and beautiful, and are probably ABS staffers. Cut to Mike Defensor, standing beside a man in drag makeup who in fairness looks sad. Noli actually sounds authoritative, calming, and sober, fatherly even. Willie on the other hand looks like a teen who just crashed his dad's car into 79 people.

I get the sense that these people inside Ultra had no idea of the extent of the carnage until Noli pointedly notes that "there are 79 dead bodies lined up in the streets."

Charo Santos now, no applause, her film career having died years ago. She pats Willie on the shoulder. I bet he's fired after two months, if only as part of the legal defense strategy. She apologizes, then goes into flight attendant mode, asking people to line up in an orderly fashion as they step out of ULTRA.

Willie then asks everybody to stand up for a minute of silence to pray for the dead. Noli and Charo then thank everyone and ask everyone to leave. People start repeatedly screaming "Wowowee! Wowowee!", thus revealing an appalling lack of perspective.

Sabi naman ni Tabachoi:

Ganito yan e. Imagine mong may hawak kang isang pirasong pritong manok. Tapos sa harap mo, may limang tao na hindi pa kumakain ng limang araw. Sinabi mong mapupunta ang manok sa mauunang makaabot sa manok. Winagayway mo yung manok sa harap nila na parang matador na may hawak na pulang tela sa harap ng toro. Hindi nila alam na may bangin pala sa tabi mo. Hindi sila nakatingin sa bangin. Sa manok sila nakatingin. Nahulog silang lahat. Namatay ang lima. Tapos hindi mo aaminin na kasalanan mo?

(Links to FrancisM and Conrado de Quiros' takes on the tragedy from his post).

Galaxies, Dancefloors, Etcetera

According to the snazzy Team Manila calendar on my wall, it's February -- and therefore, time for another mix CD made up of what I've been listening to for the past few weeks. Some of you have already been given copies; will burn more for other friends soon. :)

cabs, girls and galaxies
february 2006 mix

01. Send Help > The Modern Temper
02. Dinner Lady Arms > The Darkness
03. Carly (Goddess of Death) > The Capes
04. Roscoe > Midlake
05. Galaxies > Laura Veirs
06. I Wanna Know Girls > Portastatic
07. Black Cab > Jens Lekman
08. This Piece of Poetry is Meant to Do Harm > The Ark
09. Trains to Brazil > Guillemots
10. Por Que Te Vas? > Los Super Elegantes
11. Sheffield Shanty > Monkey Swallows the Universe
12. Recovery > New Buffalo
13. Concrete Jungle > Mig
14. Miles > The Southland
15. Hold Hands and Fight > The Rosebuds

I like all these songs a lot, naturally, but the best for me are the ones by The Modern Temper, Guillemots, Monkey Swallows the Universe, New Buffalo, The Southland, and The Rosebuds. "Send Help" is this great spiky-poppy concoction that starts off sounding slightly difficult, sails into an immensely appealing chorus, and then ends with what sounds like a duel between an electric guitar and a toy raygun. "Trains to Brazil" swings and grins and hits you upside the head with a brass section. The Southland sounds like a less wide-eyedly innocent Postal Service, and The Rosebuds are sad and inspiring all at once.

This was last December's edition:

beer, editors and dancefloors
december 2005 mix

01. Bullets > Editors
02. I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor > Arctic Monkeys
03. Cash Machine > Hard-Fi
04. Love’s on the Inside > Surefire
05. Is It Alright? > The Lovemakers
06. Are You On My Side > Rogue Wave
07. You Are the Girl > The Cars
08. You Only Live Once > The Strokes
09. When the Sunset Turns Red > Tsuneo Imahori
10. Beer > Itchyworms
11. Chicken Payback > The Bees
12. Deceptacon > Le Tigre
13. Rise Up with Fists! > Jenny Lewis
14. Winter in the Hamptons > Josh Rouse
15. Higher > Soft
16. Man of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts > Sufjan Stevens

I've been compiling mix CDs for friends for some time, of course, but last year it started to become a more or less regular thing (if three bimonthly installments is enough to constitute regularity). The December and October mixes were more of a clash of new and old than the current one, as you can see.

plans, headaches and sunshine
october 2005 mix

01. Plan to Stay Awake > The Deathray Davies
02. Here Comes the Headache > Spouse
03. You Make Me Wanna Die > Soft
04. Dilaudid (Marrtronix Version) > The Mountain Goats
05. Love's a Game > The Magic Numbers
06. Life in the D > Brendan Benson
07. Shut Your Eyes > Shout Out Louds
08. I Love a Man in a Uniform (Yeah Yeah Yeahs Remix) > Gang of Four
09. Love and Neon Lights > Niccokick
10. Straight Outta Compton > Nina Gordon
11. Dedication > The Numbs
12. Weightlifting > Trashcan Sinatras
13. We Can Have It > The Dears
14. Worry About the Wind > Hal
15. Sun > The Toms

Go! Go! Go!

If this world were less wayward and insane, "The Power is On" by The Go! Team would be a bigger hit than "Hollaback Girl." It's not a completely random comparison -- the Go! Team song shares a certain cheerleading quality with the Gwen Stefani track, but it is twenty times more awesome.

This was one of the revelations that came to me while I was watching my new Cool Britannia 2 DVD, a.k.a. "the best of British Pop and Rock Live." Other revelations: one of my new favorite bands, Hard-Fi, really suck live. And one of my old favorite bands, New Order, really really suck live. Not because they sound bad, as such, but because lead singer Bernard Sumner insists on hopping around and twirling in a dementedly awkward, dad's-gone-disco unintentional parody of frontman cool. Luckily, many of the performances were by bands that looked and sounded great live -- "Helicopter" by Bloc Party, "Michael" by Franz Ferdinand, "You Will You Won't" by The Zutons, etcetera. Radiohead doing "There There" was particularly good. On the other hand, on Coldplay's "Trouble," Chris Martin jerked around like he was being controlled by muppeteers; Graham Coxon's massive musical talent doesn't seem to extend to his singing; and even Travis seemed bored by their own rendition of "Why Does It Always Rain On Me?"

And The Fall -- somebody British please explain to me why Mark E Smith is still allowed onstage. His band sounds great, but he looks older than my grandfather, and my grandfather's dead. Age wouldn't be a problem if he could actually sing coherently, or in fact do anything coherently, but all he seemed capable of was slurring and drooling on the microphone. It's possible that he's suffering from some debilitating disease and I'm being horribly insensitive, that his performance was the soul-stirring Jools Holland equivalent of, say, a quadruplegic kid breakdancing for the Pope. In any case, I will say that he embarrassed himself less than Bernard Sumner did.

Am going to go watch "The Power is On" a few more times now. Excuse me.

Old Friends, Uruk-hai, and Wily Filipinos

Is that really the Rivermaya logo? It looks more like the logo of a bank or insurance company. Just sayin.

So last night at the Terno Records gig, someone asked me if I was, in fact, The Wily Filipino. While I flirted for a nanosecond with the notion of pretending to be someone I'm not (a notion that occurs to me with alarming regularity), I had to admit that I am just plain Luis of Kristine and Luis are Listening, international jetsetting genius and undefeated Ultimate Fighting champion. However -- there is a very real possibility that Kristine is secretly The Wily Filipino, given that a recent overview of some local rock albums had this to say about the new Rivermaya "Greatest Hits" CD:

"I'm probably remembering things wrong, but wasn't there a time when Rivermaya didn't sound like (or look like) Coldplay? Half the songs on this anthology have those faux-inspirational, hold-your-head-up-high lyrics that U2 should have abandoned twenty years ago; the other half sounds like bad Radiohead -- you know, kind of like Coldplay. In a word: insufferable."

The Terno gig/Up Dharma Down album launch reminded me in many ways of last year's Fete de la Musique: too many people crammed into too small a space, a strong Uruk-hai presence, and having to appreciate bands from too far away, due to the crowd (unlike in venues such as Saguijo or Big Sky Mind, where there is a very real danger of accidentally being tripped over by your favorite frontperson during a set). Ah, the price of popularity. Terno is an excellent label and I'm glad to see so many people drawn to their gigs, but now I'm wondering if there's a better place to hold the next one.

Indira and I ended up holing up in Chunky Farflung and Black Soup for most of the night to get some breathing space. Nice thing was that we kept running into friends and acquaintances, new and old: Brendan, Ginny, Katrin, Lala, Karlo, a couple of Luises (improbably enough), Crissy, Peach, Robert, ex-PULP photographer Gani, Eric, Kate, Therese and of course Fran, among lotsa others.

Drip's set sounded great from where we were, but from where we were, we could barely see them. Pedicab's set was a lot of fun; early enough in the evening that the crowd had not yet grown to unmanageable proportions, it got people singing along and -- in one case -- literally flipping upside down, kicking legs up in the air. Up Dharma Down -- the band of the hour -- delivered a surprisingly tepid set, marked by pseudo-jazzy instrumental noodling and a lack of really engaging material. People who had been waiting for the band all night long ended up drifting off, and talking distractedly amongst themselves (though "Maybe," as always, was a definite highlight). Am listening to their debut album now, though, and it's very very good; all bands have their off-nights after all, and UdD usually deliver exceptional performances.

But, returning to the subject of wiliness:

"The wily Filipino. How often have I gone to bed at night with that phrase echoing through my head. And yet only recently I became aware that I had never actually seen one. I had driven through Filipino neighborhoods, but everyone and everything I saw was rather straightforward. Signs signifying this or that -- the dry cleaner, the auto repair -- all seemed innocuous, but probably hid a true guile lurking underneath. I wondered under what circumstance the wiliness would come out" -- from In Search of the Wily Filipino, by Steve Martin

Fuzzy Memories

From Fuzzy Memories by Jack Handey:

"There used to be a house on our block that we thought was haunted, because you'd hear people screaming inside and because people who went in never came out. Later on we found out it was just a murderer's house."

*

"Once, when I got lost in the woods, I was afraid that eventually I might have to eat Tippy. But finally I found my way home, and I was able to put Tippy back in the refrigerator with my other sandwiches."

*

"Mom always told me that I could be whatever I wanted to be when I grew up, "within reason." When I asked her what she meant by "within reason," she said, "You ask a lot of questions for a garbage man."

*

"Maybe it's my imagination, but food seemed to taste better when I was a kid. Also, food would sing and dance and play musical instruments. But that could also have been my imagination."

*

"Hey, sport, how would you like to go for a drive in the country -- just you and me?" Grandpa had hardly finished the question before I was in the front seat of that big Buick of his. It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for cruising the back roads.

Suddenly we swerved off onto a narrow dirt road and skidded to a stop. Grandpa hustled me down into a gully, where this weird European-looking couple was waiting. They looked me up and down, even checking my teeth. Finally they told Grandpa, "No. No goot."

Grandpa said, "Yes, goot," but that didn't seem to satisfy them. Then Grandpa said okay, but they couldn't have the money back they already paid him.

Then we got back in the car and drove home."

*

More Handey wisdom here. And hey, he writes for The New Yorker too! About Martians.

Hope to be at Terno Au Go Go tomorrow. See y'all there!

"Recovery"+ by New Buffalo

Go here and check out some of the loveliest purest pop music in recent memory. "Recovery" is fantastic, and so is "No Party"; I have yet to listen to "I've Got You and You've Got Me" but I'm hoping it lives up to the other two. Singer-songwriter Sally Seltmann (say that three times fast) describes her sound as "sparkly and loyal, old and worn," and even though I have no idea what that means, it somehow sounds right.

Time for beer
Checkered cheer
Now you're here
I can see so clearly
No more question marks
Sympathy cards
It's in the stars
Troubled times are clearing
Now it's recovery
Looks like it's gonna be OK

"I Kind of Still Smell Like Jollibee"

Another post that has nothing to do with music! But this time, it's not about comics, either. It's about... food! Specifically, fast food.

Found a link to this on a friend's LJ (her entry was locked, so I won't link to it), and it was... funny, and sort of annoying as well. About a bunch of Americans who wander into Jollibee, much to their dismay. I never really thought about how vast the difference between fast food places with essentially the same menus could be. I mean, a hamburger's a hamburger, right? Apparently not.

Meanwhile, Ty was staring at her Yumburger. "This isn't something we can eat," she says. "There's a pink... sauce... and it's pink?"

I tried being positive. "Do you think it's still Thousand Island dressing?"

She put the burger in her mouth and then instantly winced. "No."

"What's it like?"

She shook her head slowly, sadly. She whispered just one word to describe the taste of her cheeseburger: "Sweet."

"It's like Wendy's took all the goo that comes out of their burgers when they're done cooking them, pressed that down into a mold, froze it in a patty shape, and exported it to the Philippines, where they put it between some bread, put pink sauce on it and sent it back here."

Goddam. And I'm reading the whole entry thinking, "It's just Jollibee." Someone should take these people to a balut vendor. Not me, because I don't eat balut. But I'd gladly introduce them to, I don't know, isaw. Or friggin' sisig.

"I Wanna Know Girls" by Portastatic

Go here and download "I Wanna Know Girls" by Portastatic (also known as the other band of Superchunk frontman Mac McCaughan). It's just a great, great slab of sugary-sweet jangly-fuzzy guitar-pop fun; even when the lyrics go borderline sleazy ("I love your feet and your legs/ And everything going up from there"), they're delivered in such an earnest, happy manner that they end up being clever/cute instead. The whole song's great, but somewhere around the 3:17 mark, it actually starts to get even better, until by the end of this lyric it soars off into a solo:

I wanna know girls, but only love one
You are my source of energy
Hook a panel up to me
And shine down on me like the sun
Now you and your friends say love is blind
But I think it’s easy and kind
Or anyhow it could be
You buzz me like it would be
You think we’re in the movies
But movies never move me
Don’t think that you can lose me
‘Cause love is like an uzi
It weighs a ton
Oh yeah, my love weighs a ton
Hey!

*GUITAR SOLO*

Brings a big smile to my sleepy face. Note the Public Enemy reference in the last few lines. Fun stuff.

You Oughtta Know

Okay, I really should be catching up on sleep right now, but then I came across this list and I couldn't not blog about it.

From Clap Clap Blog: Just Say No To Pants --

SOME THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT MUSIC CRITICS
especially if you are a member of a (local) band

1. We do understand how much work goes into making an album. We also understand that our job is to then judge the results of all that work, which means you do not get a gold star for effort. You get gold stars for having a good album.

2. Just because people have different opinions from you doesn't mean there is something wrong with them.
a) With certain exceptions, generally involving emo.
b) This is especially true when it comes to your opinion of your own work.

3. Very few rock critics think of themselves as cool. They think of themselves, quite rightly, as nerds. If you think they are "trying to be cool," you are wrong. 90% of the time this means you are projecting based on the fact that you do not understand something the writer is saying.

4. If you do not understand something the writer is saying, that is not necessarily the writer's fault. Also, you don't have to read every word, you know.

5. When it comes to local bands, critics are almost always erring on the side of being too nice.

Read the rest of the list here. From personal experience, this pretty much all rings true. My favorite, however, has to be:

10. Please do not claim that we are not entitled to judge a work until we ourselves have produced a work in the same genre of equal quality. (i.e. "Oh yeah, well let's see you make an album as good as I'm Wide Awake It's Morning!") The inescapable corollary of this is that the musicians are then not worthy of being reviewed by us until they can write a better critical essay about a box set, or 200 interesting words about a band that there's not a damn thing interesting about. This is a game that nobody wins.

One last item before I hit the sack: will probably check out Soukelya later --

Soukelya is a two-day event staged by an ukay-ukay and art collective to take place at The Coffee Way (72-A Maginhawa Street, UP Village, beside Holy Family school) starting on the 21st of January 2006, Saturday. It will feature an art show, books, apparel with histories (garage sale/ukay-ukay), cds, vcds and dvds for sale, and a music trading hub.

The featured artists who will open their exhibits on Saturday, 8 pm are Pog Gomez B., Joaquin Misa and Roselle Pineda. The clothes and other things on sale are curated by Mel Baizas, Ginny Misa, and Sarah Raymundo with their friends. Everyone is invited.

Backstreet Boys Become Backstreet Men in Backstreet Ritual*

Don't they look so happy and gay? Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Five hours after the fact, and my ears are still ringing with the ecstatic screams of thousands of young men and women. But enough about that, let's talk about the Backstreet Boys concert at the Araneta Coliseum instead. Yes, I was there. No, I would normally not have gone, but I happen to love my girlfriend, who happens to love the Backstreet Boys. Yes, I did end up enjoying myself. No, I did not scream like a wounded horse, not even when they tapped their chests and pointed at the crowd. Yes, this is the first concert by a foreign artist I've gone to since -- wow, I can't even remember. Does Mig Ayesa count?

Anyway, I leave you with this quote uttered by one of Granta's Best Young British Novelists:

"Isn't that the song about anal sex?" -- Dan Rhodes, referring to "I Want it That Way" by the Backstreet Boys

(Check out Dan's site! It's funny).

*Headline stolen from -- where else -- The Onion

Sidekickery

"You are desperately in need of a wacky sidekick!" Sandman meets Ambush Bug, Ambush Bug Nothing Special #1

Dear Gloss Girl: yes, when I become a superhero, you can be my sidekick -- and you can wear this. Muahahaha! Seriously, no, I don't want you to be my sidekick -- sidekicks always get replaced, killed off, transformed into grotesque sand creatures, or they just plain... suck. We will be full partners in crimefighting! Like Miracleman and Miraclewoman! Okay, bad example. Like Hawkman and Hawkgirl? Without the wings, weapons, and ridiculous beaky facemasks. And instead of actually doing nightly patrols, we'll just hang out at home and watch DVDs. Criminals beware!

Jewel, am as yet undecided RE: my super vigilante name. I think the costume has to come first. Judging by the available objects in my house, I can be Ratty Black T-shirt Boy, Wears-Throw-Pillow-on-Head Lad, or Toilet Plunger Man. Tsiakhyie and Biryani, thanks for the info on Lawin. I think there's a little bit of that kind of heroic madness in all of us. Look at Kristine -- she thinks she's Batman, too!

The Justice Society of Justice

Meet Doktor DiscorD and Mr. Silent: real-life superheroes.

You heard me! (Or rather, read me). REAL-LIFE SUPERHEROES, who patrol their city on their nights off and punch out injustice whenever they come across it. Mr. Silent knows Tae Kwon Do, Judo, Karate, Kendo and one or two other martial arts, while Doktor DiscorD has "a PhD in Asskickology."

One may ask, how I can call myself a superhero if I can't fly or run at Mach 3. The answer is simple. I am idealistically super. I see what, in my opinion, needs to be changed in society and I work towards that goal. I can't say if I will ever fight an army of giant robots or not, I just don't know. What I do know, however, is that I will fight injustice in whatever form it takes, whether it be a mugger or a criminal mastermind. If you are asking yourself right about now if I am serious then the answer is definitely, yes. I actually do go out and fight crime..." (from Mr. Silent's MySpace page)

Click on the pic and scroll down to read the interview with Mr. Silent (who, oddly enough, seems fairly talkative) at Lying in the Gutters. There are pictures of the other members of the Justice Society of Justice -- like Doom Bunny and Kid Christ -- on their MySpace pages. And click here to read the post on these dapper crimefighters at Warren Ellis' site. (My favorite comment: "I live in Indianapolis, these guys are real, I have seen them on the street. I'm not sure if they're crazy or just... I'm pretty sure they’re crazy.")

Crazy or not, I think they are an inspiration. As soon as I train myself to be at the absolute peak of human athletic perfection (and take a few Krav Maga and Arnis courses), I'm going to fight crime too. Or I could save some time and give myself the power to fire deadly metal projectiles from my hands at great velocity by, say, buying a gun. Not sure how the Justice Society of Justice feels about guns though.

And of course I'm going to need a cool name and costume.

PS. Just remembered: doesn't UP Campus already have its own superhero? That crazy guy with the cape who's always dragging a toy car behind him? Or am I mixing him up with another crazy guy in the Quezon City area? Anyone who knows who I'm thinking of, please post a comment. :)

Ninja Doctors and Big Ideas

Ever wonder what a comic book starring a doctor who is also a ninja might be like? If so, please seek professional psychiatric help. And then go and read The Adventures of Dr. McNinja, which actually lives up to this fantastic premise. (It also has giant lumberjacks, pirates, Ronald McDonald, and a gorilla receptionist named Judy).

"When two ninja engage in battle, not a word is spoken. There is no room for banter. Perfect focus must be maintained. Every attack and parry is plotted ten steps in advance. Like a silent, deadly game of battleship. No, not chess. Battleship. Chess is a little too... rooky, pawny for my tastes."

And now I leave you with another quote, this time from Your Band Sucks: "What Big Idea have I stumbled upon this week, you ask? First of all, fuck you. I don’t stumble upon anything, I use my legendary intellect to devise amazing ideas, and then I present them to you via my unsurpassed writing ability. Except for this idea, which I pretty much stumbled upon."

Hate It or Love It: Songs from 2005

Holy crap, we’re midway thru January and we haven’t done any “Best of 2005” posts, or any posts at all, for that matter. Perhaps we’re too mesmerized by that picture of Barbie and Kitchie attacking some hapless photographer. In any case, I did end up listing my Favorite Albums, Songs, and Live Performances in my column, The King of Nothing to Do, in the i section of last Saturday’s Manila Bulletin.

Something I realized while writing my column: I listened to a lot of music in 2005, but I didn’t actually listen to a lot of albums. I guess that’s what happens when you develop an audioblog addiction. Anyway, here’s an expanded version of my list of Favorite Songs from 2005:



1. Hard to Beat – Hard-Fi
This probably shouldn’t be number one, but I can’t stop listening to it. Insanely catchy, sexy, danceable and oozing with attitude, I’ll probably be sick of it soon, but in the meantime, it’s giving me some great strobe-lit daydreams.

2. Beer – Itchyworms
Arguably the best song in an excellent album, this is a song to get tipsy to, sing along with, and try to learn on your guitar: in short, one of those senti-funny Pinoy rock barkada classics.

3. Feel Good Inc – Gorillaz
It somehow makes sense that a cartoon band has more personality than most real bands. Noodle’s older and the Gorillaz are better, as demonstrated by this song, which is like parts of many good songs stitched together to make a great song.

4. Dito Tayo Sa Dilim – Pedicab
Love playing this -- and for that matter, the rest of Tugish Takish -- full blast in the morning. Wakes you up, gets you going, makes you feel like bouncing up and down and drawing cartoon animals on the ceiling.

5. Higher – Soft
Hypnotic, majestic, heart-thrilling stuff -- thanks to The Oh So Quiet Show for introducing me to this band. :)

6. Lonesome Reply – The Whiles
So pretty it would make me cry, if I weren’t such a manly man. And then when the electric guitar squeals to life near the end of the song and the whole thing takes off: beautiful.

7. Video – Aimee Mann
Aimee Mann is trying to break your heart.

8. Don’t Give Up the Fight – The Magic Numbers
Hard to choose between all the great songs on the Magic Numbers’ debut, but this is the one I keep coming back to.

9. You Only Live Once – The Strokes
I only hope the rest of their third album is this good.

10 Mushaboom – Feist
A cute, charming little masterpiece. “And we'll collect the moments one by one/ I guess that's how the future's done.”

11. Time Stops – Teenage Fanclub
Teenage Fanclub continues to make perfect guitar-driven pop. Soothing, almost-sleepy vocals, a snappy rhythm, fuzzy guitars and chord changes to leave you grinning.

12. The Engine Driver – The Decemberists
“And I am a writer, a writer of fictions/ I am the heart that you call home.” How could I not love this song?

13. Biyernes – Narda
Lot of good songs on Formika, but this was the first one that stood out, for me.

14. Hate It or Love It – The Game feat. 50 Cent
Didn’t listen to so much hip-hop in 2005, and I’m not crazy about music by The Game or 50 Cent in general, but this one really stuck in my head, as did the last song on the list…

15. Signs – Snoop Dogg feat. Justin Timberlake
For when you feel like dancing like an utter fool.

Other songs: Don’t think these came out in 2005, but I love them and listened to them over and over last year: Look Up by Stars, Dedication by The Numbs, Nina Gordon’s acoustic cover of Straight Outta Compton, The Robots in My Bedroom Were Playing Arena Rock by The Soft Lightes, the amazing Jay-Z/Nena mash-up of 99 Luftballoons and 99 Problems, and, quite possibly my real absolute favorite song of the year, Here Comes the Headache by Spouse. I’m not giving up, I’m giving in!

How to Fire Your Band

You're right, this picture needs a better caption. Come on, people! All the bright minds who read this blog can certainly come up with something to go with this picture. Winner will get 10 Jon Bon Jovi Have a Nice Day promo stickers. (Fortunately, these stickers have neither Jon Bon Jovi's face nor his name on them, so you can stick 'em anywhere--yes, even where the sun don't shine!--with no shame).

And, in case you're wondering, this picture came from here, under unexplained circumstances.

Up Your Chimneys

From The Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer #1 (1985)

"Santa, with my nose so bright, can I guide your sleigh tonight?" "SHADDUP! I'm sick of milk and cookies! I'm sick of the North Pole! So up your chimneys!" Click on the image to reveal... a bigger image. It's like a magic! (copyright The Ciudad Band)

And Happy Holidays to y'all. Ho ho ho!

I'm the goddamn Batman

Because even heroes can be dicks sometimes.

ROBIN: Who the hell are you anyway, giving out orders like this?
BATMAN: What are you, dense? Are you retarded or something? Who the hell do you think I am? I'm the goddamn Batman.

Ladies and gentlemen, an actual excerpt from All-Star Batman and Robin #2, by Frank Miller and Jim Lee, both men who have done much better work elsewhere. This classic exchange of dialogue is old news to comics fans, but I just felt like posting it now. Enjoy!

Fergie is Sally

Despite the brain-melting badness that is the Black Eyed Peas song My Humps, Fergie will always be aces in my book. The reason why is in an interview from the August 2005 issue of Blender:

BLENDER: WHAT'S THE COOLEST THING YOU'VE EVER DONE?

FERGIE: Being the voice of Sally for a Peanuts cartoon. I actually have a thing that Charles Schulz wrote me. He drew Snoopy and it says, "To our best Sally ever -- Schulz." That's cool! Schulz called me the best Sally ever.

It's not just that she was the voice of Sally Brown once upon a time, it's that despite becoming an international pop star with BEP, she still counts voicing Sally as "the coolest thing she's ever done."

That is why she is awesome.

Incidentally, one of the Peanuts specials Fergie did -- "It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown" -- is one of my all-time favorites, despite the fact that it's horribly, horribly dated now, as you can probably guess from the title (then again, the 80s are back...). Who could forget such timeless tunes as "The Pig-Pen Hoe-Down," "I'm In Shape" and "Lucy Says"? Listen to Lucy, listen to Lucy!

PS. The new installment of my column, "The King of Nothing to Do," should be in the i section of today's Manila Bulletin. It's a Christmas story for children! Well, sort of.

My Humps My Humps

From Slate:

"My Humps" is a moment that reminds us that categories such as "good" and "bad" still matter. Relativism be damned! There are bad songs that offend our sensibilities but can still be enjoyed, and then there are the songs that are just really bad -- transcendentally bad, objectively bad. As a piece of music, "My Humps" is a stunning assemblage of awful ideas.

Radioactive Dharma

Yay! It's the Warning Label Generator! As always, my capacity to discover new ways to distract myself knows no bounds.

Last Saturday night after the Siglo launch, Yvette and I found ourselves at 6underground, where we enjoyed sets by bands like The Happy Meals (who were apparently recently dropped by Viva, the label that was supposed to release their first album -- a real shame, they're a good band) and recent In The Raw winners Up Dharma Down. For those of you who have yet to hear UDD, there are some samples here. When I say 'samples,'I mean samples: the excellent "Maybe," for example, fades out all too soon.

Passion! Power! Piction!

It's December 10, Saturday, today, right? That means alla youse who are interested in comics and/or speculative fiction should go to the Greenhills Promenade branch of Fully Booked later at 6:30 PM, where they're launching three books: Siglo: Passion (from Nautilus Comics), Project: Hero (Quest Ventures), and Philippine Speculative Fiction, Vol. 1 (Kestrel).

I'm one of the writers of Siglo: Passion -- I wrote a script set in the future, involving artificial realities, real friendships, and a giant guinea pig, that was illustrated by the very skilled Jonas Diego. Other contributors include Gerry Alanguilan, Quark Henares, Dean Alfar, Reno Maniquis, Jeremy Arambulo, Lan Medina, Carlo Vergara, Marco Dimaano, Leinil Francis Yu, etc. According to Click the City:

Siglo: Passion is the sequel to the National Book Award-winning anthology Siglo: Freedom. This time around, the book explores the passions of the Filipino people, from food to family, from religion to nation, through twelve stories set across one hundred years of history and beyond. With a roster of award-winning writers and artists, Siglo: Passion promises to be an unforgettable experience, and yet another milestone in Philippine comic book history.

The launch price is Php 500, and it will apparently sell post-launch for Php 850. More on Siglo: Passion at the Nautilus Comics site and Dean's blog. Project: Hero (Php 120), as the name implies, is a comics anthology featuring new Pinoy superheroes, and Philippine Speculative Fiction (Php 300) is a collection of mind-expanding short stories by Cyan Abad-Jugo, Gabriela Lee, Ian Casocot, and Sarge Lacuesta, among others. See ya there!

PS. Happy birthday, Fran! :)

The NU Rock Awards, part 2

NU ROCK AWARDS 2005
The Official List Of Winners


BEST NEW ARTIST: Pedicab

VOCALIST OF THE YEAR: Bamboo Mañalac of Bamboo

GUITARIST OF THE YEAR: Cynthia Alexander

BASSIST OF THE YEAR: Niño Avenido of Greyhoundz

DRUMMER OF THE YEAR: Jeross Dolino of Sheila and the Insects

BEST LIVE ACT: Kamikazee

RISING SUN AWARD: Orange and Lemons

IN THE RAW AWARD: Up Dharma Down

SONG OF THE YEAR: "Ako si M-16" by Junior Kilat

BEST MALE AWARD: Yael Yuzon of Spongecola

BEST FEMALE AWARD: Aia De Leon Of Imago

ALBUM OF THE YEAR: Light, Peace, and Love by Bamboo

BAND/ARTIST OF THE YEAR: Orange and Lemons

BEST MUSIC VIDEO: "Akap" Of Imago (Directed by Marie Jamora)

BEST ALBUM PACKAGING: Claude Rodrigo for Strike Whilst the Iron is Hot of Orange and Lemons

PRODUCER OF THE YEAR: Cynthia Alexander and Angee Rozul for Cynthia Alexander*

[*Can somebody help clear this up, please? As far as I know, Angee Rozul and Cynthia Alexander who won Producer of the Year, but most online accounts like this one from ABS-CBN Interactive say that it was Noel de Brackinghe for his work with Greyhoundz. Help!]


----------------------------------

Surprise! Hale aren't Best New Artist of 2005, and do you know why? Because they're NOT! HOORAY!

I'm not even going to complain that O&L are Artist of the Year, because I will grudgingly admit that they've made quite an impact on the industry, having suddenly made acceptable bad haircuts and faux-English accents. Okay, I know when I've been defeated. You win this round, O&L, but the battle is far from over.

Now, to answer some fan mail:

Aki asked:
Juz wanna ask why are you so mad to Orange and Lemons?...


Dear Aki
I am so mad to Orange and Lemons, because they are suck. Okay, that's not right! Orange and Lemons are not suck, but they are, how do you say, annoying. With their haircuts and their accents which are not real. They are annoy to me.

I hope that clears things up...

Kristine

* * * * * *

Andrea asked:
I'm just curious and I hope you don't mind me asking this.

Who would you choose among the three, Hale, Cueshe, and O&L? I know you don't like them. But sino sa kanila yung mejo matitiis mo pa?

Hehe.


Dear Andrea,

Oh, good question! This reminds me of the old game we used to play in the Pulp offices. "Who would you..." (e.g.,"Who would you watch if you could only watch one, Smashing Pumpkins or Pixies?" "Who would you date, Jerome Abalos or Joey 'Pepe' Smith?" etc.)

Actually, even with all my nasty comments about O&L, they're the ones I could listen to. Cueshe are boring, and Hale just aren't great musicians. Which only proves that, hey, looks aren't everything to me. O&L are pretty homely, and I picked them. See? I'm deep.

Kristine

+ + + + + +
NOTE: I've updated the winners list several times, as no official list of the winners can be found anywhere online. My apologies for the initial mistakes, and I would appreciate it if anyone can point out any additional ones. Thanks!